


Miss Communication

by Mr_Fizzles



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lesbians in Space, Mutual Pining, Star Trek: AOS, Trapped In A Closet, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 07:49:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15310848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Fizzles/pseuds/Mr_Fizzles
Summary: Written as a part of a fic exchange on @sapphicstartrek on tumblrFor @thundernlightning-lesbian on tumblrPrompt: AOS Jaylah/Anyone, trapped together in a Jeffries tube, no character death pleaseJaylah and Uhura are stuck in a Jeffries tube which is quite possibly the most awkward thing to ever happen to Nyota, not in the least because of her starship-sized crush on the newest member of engineering.





	Miss Communication

"Montgomery Scotty did not warn me of this." Jaylah crossed her arms and huffed petulantly as she slumped against the side of the Jeffries tube.

Nyota tried not to notice just how adorable it was when she pouted. She refused to pay attention to the way a few strands of her hair had escaped her ponytail to curl against her neck. She was putting all her effort into not being distracted by how perfectly the fabric of her pristine new uniform hugged her biceps. Needless to say Nyota was failing at all of these things. Miserably.

"Uhura? Were you not listening?" Jaylah's eyes narrowed, their golden hue taking on a slight orange tinge from the safety lights she was leaning against. Her eyes narrowed further and... She was staring she should probably answer.

"As far as I know this isn't a common occurrence, at least it isn't common enough that Keenser would think to warn us before sending us down here. I'm sure Scotty will fix it soon." Nyota had never expected to be thankful for all those hours of diplomacy training the bridge crew had had to go through, but here she was. Even with all that practice she only just kept her voice level, not betraying her steadily rising pulse as she sat in this tube that was much smaller than she remembered it being an hour ago. But then, an hour ago she wasn't stuck in one small segment with the object of her most intense crush since the academy.

Clearly thoughts like that were the exact opposite of helpful, so she decided to try for a distraction. "So Jaylah, have you read anything interesting lately?" The aforementioned training kept her from wincing at the first question to come to her mind, but only barely.

"Lately I have read some earth classics given to me by James T." The suspicious tone and the look Jaylah leveled at her made it clear that she knew this was an avoidance tactic, although she seemed confused as to it's purpose. She raised an eyebrow as though something had occurred to her suddenly. "Why are you nervous?"

"What are you talking about?" At Jaylah's frown, Nyota sighed and twisted her hands together in her lap. "I'm nervous because I'm trapped in a small Jeffries tube section with you and I don't know how long we'll be stuck in here." That was honest enough, she thought, even if it didn't explain the biggest reason for her nerves.

Jaylah's frown deepened and she shifted her gaze to her feet. "I am sorry Uhura, I do not mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Wait, what?" This turn in conversation was entirely unexpected. She had predicted that Jaylah would laugh it off, like she usually did when touchy subjects came up in group conversation. What reason did Jaylah have to apologise anyway?

"I am not blind or stupid. All of the time when I enter a room, or when I talk, you become uncomfortable. It is clear you do not like me." Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor and she pulled her crossed arms tighter to her chest.

Nyota began to splutter in a way that entirely disregarded her usual careful manner, "No, Jaylah that's not it at all-"

Jaylah suddenly switched her gaze to her face as she interrupted, "Then how do you explain why you are nervous?"

"It's because I do like you!" Not the smoothest of confessions perhaps, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Nyota was halfway regretting telling her already, but she had just had to do something to stop Jaylah from looking and sounding so confused and hurt.

"I do not understand. You have many friends that you like and you do not be this way to them." Jaylah honestly seemed confused, she was oddly naive about some things but this, now that she had said it Nyota needed her to understand.

"I... Jaylah, I like you as in I have a crush on you, I like you as more than friends, romantically that is . I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, what with being new on the ship and all. I guess I haven't been as subtle about it as I thought I had been. I completely understand if you don't feel the same way, especially if I've made you feel unwelcome around me..." Nyota's babbling trailed off at the intense glare that Jaylah was now directing at her. She looked down at her hands, desperately hoping that Scotty would fix the locks in the tube so that she could escape the tension. She felt a hand lightly come to rest on her shoulder and looked up to find Jaylah staring at her just as intensely but from a much smaller distance.

"You would not have made me uncomfortable Uhura." She said in a soft tone so unlike her usual blunt confidence that Nyota couldn't help but stare. "I would not have been uncomfortable at all. If you had explained we could have been doing this weeks ago." The question of what 'this' was became wholly unnecessary before Nyota could even voice it. Jaylah had closed the distance between them and captured her face between her hands as she brought their lips together.

"I like you as more than friends as well," Jaylah said as she pulled back much more quickly than Nyota might have liked. "Now that we agree we can do more of this, yes?" Nyota was only too happy to agree.

The following minutes were a blur, both occupants of the Jeffries Tube far too engaged in their current activities to be bothered acknowledging the chirps of their communicators.

\----------------------

"...are you sure captain? I can't seem to get a hold of them and they've been in there a while." Scotty frowned down at his communicator as he continued to get no response.

"The hatches are unlocked now, right?" Jim seemed largely unconcerned, even amused

"Yes sir, it was only a minor malfunction. Shouldn't we send someone to retrieve them if they aren't picking up?" The confusion on his chief engineers face only served to make the grin on his own face more pronounced.

"Scotty," he steered him away from the console with an arm around his shoulders, his demeanor that of a man who had quite literally just won a ship-wide betting pool, "I guarantee you they are just fine."

 


End file.
